For the first time in Philippine history, the government is building a Central Kitchen in every school division nationwide—funded under a ₱1 billion capital outlay as part of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) ₱25 billion school feeding program—with each kitchen designed to serve up to 10 nearby schools, Education Assistant Secretary Roger Masapol said Saturday.
Masapol made the disclosure in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on August 1, as part of the DZRH SONA 2026 Series featuring the Department of Education.
“Gusto ko lang bigyang diin ‘yung capital outlay na 1 billion. So ngayong taon po magbi-build ang DepEd ng mga Central Kitchen sa bawat division natin,” Masapol said.
He said each Central Kitchen will function like a commissary, preparing hot meals for distribution to nearby schools using a dedicated utility vehicle, with the pilot facility in one division serving as a model and prototype before replication.
The shift from packaged nutribun to hot meals is central to the program’s design, as Education Secretary Sonny Angara said a child who is fed only during a limited number of school days tends to revert to their original weight once feeding stops—making a sustained, school-year-round hot meal program more effective.
“Kasi ang nasa batas, ang requirement ng batas, ife-feed ‘yung mga wasted and severely wasted. But we’re going beyond that, we’re feeding all the children which is a best practice worldwide,” Angara said.
Masapol said the Central Kitchen program is expected to be operational in all divisions by the first quarter of 2027 at the latest, with the budget already downloaded to the regional level and procurement underway.
The private sector is also joining the effort, with Jollibee building Central Kitchens in Los Baños and other areas as part of a DepEd partnership, adding to the program’s reach without additional government expenditure.
